Experimental Powers
by BotlNozeDolfin
Summary: Laylia can't get mad. She promised her daddy she wouldn't get mad. But the world sucks and people are a**holes. She knows that she has powers, powers that she can barely control. And when she goes looking for her father's file on SHIELD's database, she's plunged into a world of powered people, secret agents, and dark secrets kept hidden from the world. Just don't get mad, right?
1. Chapter 1

"Dad?" The girl peered out of her bedroom, looking down the hallway toward the staircase. Her eyes were wide as she stepped carefully out onto the dark landing, making sure her feet did not make the floorboards creak. She bit her lip, concern and fear playing across her face as she leaned over the railing. "Daddy? Are you okay?" The young girl tip toed down the stairs, gripping the railing tighter and tighter as she neared the floor. She stepped off the last stair and heard a coughing gasp; the girl's head snapped up. She walked slowly towards the living room, keeping to the shadows. As the girl entered the living room, she saw her father, lying on the ground in a pool of blood. "Daddy!" She gasped, collapsing on the floor next to him. So focused on him, she did not notice the glass shards cutting her legs and feet, nor the gun laying out with it's clip empty. And as she placed her hands on her father's chest and began to sob, she did not notice the men surrounding her from behind, aiming guns at her back.

One of the men grabbed her shirt collar and yanked her back, while another pulled her father to his knees. "Don't… hurt... her…" He breathed out, exhaustion on his face but anger in his eyes. The men laughed. "We don't listen to you anymore, Mark. You burned that trust bridge when you stole it from the lab." One of the men said. The girl's father looked up at him. "She has a name, Kellen!" Kellen smirked. "Oh? And what could that be?" Mark looked at the girl; his adopted daughter, that he took and hid from his old lab. "Her name is Laylia." Kellen laughed and began loading his gun, as Mark tried pulling away from his restrainer. "Well, _Laylia_ is a problem. And they want me to fix it." Kellen snapped his chamber shut and cocked his gun, walking towards Mark. "It's a big problem, too."

"Don't hurt my daddy!" Laylia yelled. Kellen turned and looked at her, maniac joy on his face. "And the abomination speaks! I didn't know you taught it to speak!" Kellen slowly moved his gun over to Mark. "Did you teach it to control it's power too?" Mark locked eyes with Laylia, who looked terrified. "Just stay calm, sweetheart, it'll be alright." Mark tried to assure her; a crack in his voice told Laylia that her father was as scared as she was. She did not know he was scared for a different reason. "Daddy, I'm scared." Laylia whimpered, watching the gun get closer to her father's head. "Don't worry, Laylia. Can you make a pinkie promise?" Laylia nodded, tears streaming down her face. "Promise you won't get angry, okay? Don't get angry, Laylia." Mark desperately pled, as Kellen brought the gun to rest on his temple. "Laylia, promise!" His eyes locked with hers. "I promise." Laylia whispered. Mark smiled sadly, and Kellen pulled the trigger.

Laylia fell forward, screaming. Kellen turned the gun to her. The young girl sobbed, tears streaming down her face. Kellen laughed, kneeling in front of her again. "Come on, kid, he wasn't even your dad! He didn't care about you-" Laylia grabbed his throat. Kellen dropped the gun and reached up, trying to dislodge her hand. His angry gaze turned to fear as Laylia looked up. Her eyes alight with blue lightning, an angry look on her face, she snarled at Kellen. "You hurt him. You hurt daddy." In a flash of light, the five year old's living room was destroyed. The men were blasted off their feet. And in the middle of rings of fire and destruction, Laylia stood, her body lit with blue flames and lightning.


	2. Chapter 2

" _Last night, a robbery turned deadly when four men pulled guns on a bank clerk at the 4_ _th_ _Street Bank. Witnesses reported seeing a flash of blue light followed by several explosions coming from the lobby of the bank. Miraculously, no one was injured except for the four men who were identified as the robbers. As of right now, SHIELD agents are on the scene, assessing the damage that many believe to be products of the actions of a superhero._ "

I turned from the TV and took a sip of my tea. _Damn. Nineteen times now._ I sighed and pulled open a search tab on the computer. The library was super quiet, which really wasn't a surprise considering it was eight on a Thursday night. I looked around anyway, before typing in six letters and hovering over the enter button. The black letters spelling out SHIELD stared back at me. I pulled up a stopwatch on the computer, and pressed start before pressing enter. Instantly, multiple hits popped up about last night's robbery. I selected the one on SHIELD's agency, opening up a programming window. The circle in the top left corner twirled around, the time taking it to load excruciating. I looked at the watch. 19 seconds had passed. The IT department detected the breach at twenty- five seconds, and alerted the teams at 60. In two minutes, a team of agents would arrive at the library. I shook my head and started typing. Pulling up redacted files, I began searching in the adolescent files. _Mary Sue Poots_. _Sorry you have that name, kid._ I closed the document and opened a new one, searching for the one with the right name on it. The document loaded, and I glanced at the clock again, blood pounding in my ears. _Dammit, seventy five seconds gone_. I needed to finish. Finally, the page loaded. I stared at the name at the top. _Mark Harker._ My dad. I closed my eyes, feeling the hurt course through my body again.

An alert shook me out of my stupor, and I looked at the computer screen. 100 seconds. I cursed and started printing the document. The blacked out lines on the redacted pages smelled like fresh ink and deceit; but I couldn't stop to read them. I could already hear the sirens coming closer. A SHIELD sign popped up on the screen as I wiped the keyboard clean. I grabbed my bag and the freshly printed pages and ran to the emergency escape, barely clearing the door before the SHIELD agents busted through the main entrance.

I pulled on my blue knit cap and zipped up my jacket, the frigid November air chilling my skin. Another SHIELD car sped past, lights ablaze and siren wailing. I smirked through my jacket and stuffed my hands in my pockets, hiding the papers. A helicopter circled overhead, and I looked back to the library. There were at least seven cars, too much for a regular SHIELD response. Confused, I looked up at the helicopter. It looked like it was getting closer to me, rather than closer to the library. I frowned, before a spike dropped into my stomach. Nerves shot, I pulled out my cell phone and checked the screen. My heart pounding, I took one look at the screen and smashed it. The fizzled image of a SHIELD trace shuddered before going black. I looked around, senses heightened. Already I could feel my body responding to the danger; I had to get away.

I started running, dropping my bag and sprinting away from the library. My stuff didn't matter anymore; my life did. The helicopter searchlight scanned back and forth in front of me, and I took a hard right, crashing through the trees and brush. Behind me I could hear the agents yelling to stop, they weren't afraid to shoot, and to not make it worse. I ran faster, not stopping, barely breathing. My heart in my ears, my stomach in my throat, adrenaline rushed through my body. The light focused on me, just as I crashed through the tree line and into the open park. I looked behind me, and saw a few dozen agents flying down the hill towards me. I whipped my head back around and slammed on the brakes, a blockade of SHIELD agents standing in my path. I turned left, desperate to get away. I continued to slip away from them, and I praised my powers.

I felt myself being lifted up and slammed into the ground. I coughed and turned over, pain already ebbing away. I looked up, and saw a girl who looked my age standing in front of me. She was dressed in black, weird braces on her arms, a determined look on her face. I narrowed my eyes and pushed myself up, facing off with her.

"My name is Daisy Johnson, I'm an agent of SHIELD. You have to come with us." She said in an authoritative voice. I scoffed as the other agents surrounded us. "Like hell I will. You don't know who you're dealing with, Daisy." She scowled, clenching her fists. "You don't know who _you're_ dealing with." I stepped up to her, meeting her glare with my own. "Why don't we find out who's dealing with who?" I smirked.

She shot out her hands and slammed a wave of force into me. I flew back, back flipping and landing in a runner's position. I brought my head up and pushed off, running full speed into her. It caught her off guard, and we both went twenty feet back. She landed a good punch or two in the air, and we hit the ground hard before rolling away. Daisy brought up her hands for another push, and I brought up my hands for a deflection. I felt the energy fly to my palms and I struck, diverting her power away. A shocked look on her face, she froze, and I pulled my hands back and delivered a pulse of energy in her direction. The bolt crackled from my hands towards her, where she barely dodged it. One of the agents yelled something, and Daisy Johnson yelled back. I sent another bolt flying towards her, which she dodged and then sent a wave of force at me. It caught me off guard, and I dove to the side. As I rose, a sharp pain pulsed into my neck, making me drop to my knees. I reached up with my left hand and yanked a small purple and silver bullet out of my neck. I turned to the person who shot it- a middle aged asian woman- and crushed the bullet in my hand. A look of confusion and horror on the agents faces, I rose up. "Ow." I scowled, starting towards her.

A punch flying across my face brought me back to the battle at hand. I blinked. There were two women? I realized another person had joined the fight. She was small, but dressed like Johnson. I clenched my fists and started towards them, as they started towards me. The new chick blasted forward, and in slow motion I saw her sprinting faster than the speed of light at me. I ducked as she threw a punch, blocking Johnson's kick at the same time. We traded punches and kicks. I landed two on the speedy chick and one on Johnson. Speedy Gonzales landed a kick in my stomach; Johnson punched my kidney. I elbowed her in the face and kicked speedy's legs out from under her. Johnson and I traded power moves. I felt blood start coming down my face and a sting on the side of my head. I was losing. They found a rhythm and started hitting me over and over again. I dodged and blocked, barely getting in anything.

A hard kick came flying towards my head, and another one at my knees. No time to react, they hit me hard and I flew back a few feet. For the second time in ten minutes, I rolled over and coughed, spitting out blood. I smiled and cracked my neck, wiping my face and slowly standing. They stared at me, bewilderment on their faces. I shook my head and grinned. "Time for the party to start!" Focusing the energy, I powered up and erupted in a flash of blue light.

My ears grew slightly pointed. I felt my teeth get sharp, small fangs tipping my teeth. Strength returned to my body; power coursed through my veins, making me feel invincible. I looked up through the blue haze, focusing on the two women in front of me. They backed away, terrified. I looked around, SHIELD agents pointing guns at me. I smiled and shot energy at them all. Bullets rained down on me; they bounced off harmlessly, not breaking the skin. I destroyed their cars, their helicopter, their ATVs. They were running everywhere, screaming and yelling. I looked at Johnson, who stared at me in terror. I smirked at her, before realizing she was looking at something behind me. I frowned and looked over my shoulder.

A fiery demon stood there. I turned and faced it, narrowing my eyes. It looked back at me, gripping the chain in it's hands. I clenched my fists, electricity crackling across my body. Not waiting for it to hit first, I threw my hands out, energy slamming into it's body. It went back, but threw it's chain to loop around my wrist. I followed it's path, hitting hard into it. As we got up, I threw a punch powered by electricity into it's face. I looked in shock as it turned back towards me, the crack in it's skull repairing itself. I stared at it's head, not noticing the fist aimed for my own. An explosion shot across my eyes, followed by dizziness and darkness clouding over my vision. As I hit the ground, the last thing I saw was the demon's fire extinguishing. The last thing I thought, dreamily, was how the hell did I go down in one punch?


	3. Chapter 3

In all her years as a SHIELD agent, Jemma Simmons had seen some pretty horrifying things. There was that time when John Garret had taken over SHIELD, and given Grant Ward the order to kill both Simmons and Fitz. Fitz had brain damage from being suffocated for so long, and she had barely been able to swim both of them to the surface. There was also the initial war between the inhumans, Talbot, and SHIELD. The most prominent memory she could think of was when she was transported to another planet, through the obelisk. The entire journey- arriving on the planet, finding Will, escaping with Fitz, and having that parasite take over Ward- had been terrifying for her. In Simmons' mind, there wasn't much that could compare to that experience, including Robbie's demonic powers.

These thoughts ran through her head as she watched the video taken of the new inhuman. In horror, she viewed the young girl decimate the SHIELD troops, a look of malice on the teen's face. The Icer bullets seemed to have no effect, except to make the girl even angrier. Jemma sighed in relief as Ghost Rider showed up, putting the girl down effectively. Plagued with intrigue, Simmons pulled up the video feed from the containment room. The girl was still in bed, exhibiting the results of Robbie's power. A blue bruise had since blossomed across her right cheek and jaw, and even in sleep the girl looked to be in pain. While Jemma doubted she would be able to move after a fight like that, she still took comfort in the fact that while she was performing tests on the girl, restraints would hold the girl down. Truth be told, if the Icer bullets worked on her the way they did with Robbie- that is to say, not at all- then the Containment Modules probably wouldn't hold the girl once she was using her power.

Simmons frowned and picked up the girl's file. _Laylia Harker_. She was only seventeen. To go through terrigenesis at such a young age… and with no one to help her adjust to her new life. Jemma shook her head. Laylia was at SHIELD, and they would find out what powers exactly she had. More specifically, Jemma would find out what powers she had. She didn't always like being the leading "expert" on inhumans, even if she did understand their genetics the most out of everyone in the world. She sighed, and pulled her equipment together.

"Headed down to containment, are you?" Fitz walked in, carefully setting down the case in his right hand. Simmons nodded, continuing to put instruments on the cart. She paused, feeling Fitz's concern from across the lab. She sighed and looked up at him. "Fitz, I'll be fine. She's just a teenager." Fitz scoffed. "Yeah, a teenager who leveled three quinjets and at least two dozen SHIELD agents. But yeah, I'm sure you can handle it, so, yeah, no worries." Simmons inwardly rolled her eyes at Fitz, but was internally grateful for his worry about her safety. "Coulson and Director Mace agreed that Daisy, May, and Mack will be with me while I'm in the containment rooms. I think they'll be able to protect me, don't you?" Simmons crossed the room, wrapping her arms around Fitz's shoulders. He sighed, looking down at the table. "Yeah, except only Robbie was able to take her down. Him and his freakish demon powers." Simmons gave Fitz a quick kiss on the cheek and started pushing the cart out towards the door. "It'll be fine, Fitz. I promise."

As Simmons walked down toward the secure level, she was grateful that Daisy, May, and Mack would be accompanying her. She wasn't sure how Harker would respond to having May and Daisy present, considering the two of them had been at the field. She hoped having the calming presence of Agent Mackenzie there would be a counter to whatever panic the young girl would feel. Simmons frowned in thought; was it best to have Daisy in the room? Sure, Daisy was an inhuman, and had been working with Lincoln on how to transition inhumans. But she also had pretty much attacked Harker, and made her feel like she had to defend herself. Not to mention, Daisy couldn't go head to head against Laylia. It had taken Ghost Rider to subdue her, and Simmons absolutely did not want Robbie in the same room as Harker. She wasn't even sure if May should be present. Mack was plenty bodyguard enough, and probably wouldn't incite any negative feelings or reactions.

"Deep in thought?" Simmons was startled out of her trance by Daisy, who had just jogged up. "Daisy, you have cuts that need stitches." Simmons noticed two red lines seeping through the gauze above Daisy's eyebrow. She shrugged and smiled, lightly pushing down the tape around the outside. "Yeah, turns out that kid packs a wallop when she hits. Its fine, though, just stings a bit." Simmons frowned, turning her disapproving gaze away from Daisy. "Those cuts really need stitches…" She muttered, scanning over the rest of Harker's file. Daisy rolled her eyes, before resting her gaze on Agents May and Mackenzie. Deep in conversation, the two didn't notice Daisy and Simmons until they joined the group. May nodded to the two of them, before pulling up the video from inside the containment room.

"So, you want us to be in there in case Harker gets loose?" May asked, brushing her hair back from her face. Simmons gulped as she saw the bandage behind May's ear, displaying that she was also injured by Harker's attack. May noticed Simmons' discomfort, and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm fine, Simmons. I already got checked out. And before you protest, the Director wants both me and Daisy in there with you and Mack." Simmons nodded, scowling. "I know, I just think your presence will set her on edge." May shrugged, starting to key in the code to open the door. "Yeah, that's what I said. He thinks it'll be fine, so why worry?" Mack put an arm around Simmons' shoulder. "Don't worry, Simmons. We've got your back. And," he added in a low voice, "I'll keep them in check. Everything will be fine."


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey Everyone! Thanks so much for all the favorites and follows! I'm sorry the chapters aren't longer, I have a lot of homework and unfortunately, only a few 30 minute time periods in which I can write. But anyway, happy holidays and here's a new chapter!**

 _Ugh._ I released the air from my chest, my ribs burning. My jaw felt like it was on fire; my head pounded with every beat of my heart. My back seared with pain. Out of all the times I've ever woken up after using my powers, this was probably the worst. I squinted, barely able to see through the blur and bright lights.

There were dark figures in the room with me. I snapped my eyes open, trying to sit up against the straps that were holding me down. Terror flooded my senses, making all the pain subside for about thirty seconds. As I looked around, my breath came in short gasps. There was no detail in what I saw; there was only blurry shapes and voices. "Whoa, hey, calm down, kid." I shook my head, trying to clear my mind. I felt a hand on my shoulder, lightly pressing me back into the bed I was on. "Hey, don't worry. You're okay." I tried to focus on the man who was talking to me. He was tall, and super big. Was it that freak from last night?! No, this dude had kind eyes, and looked concerned. And he wasn't on fire. I swallowed, and relaxed against the pillows. He nodded, a small smile on his face. It was then that I noticed the woman next to him. She was also new, with brown hair and a lab coat on. She also had on a flowery shirt and black pants; not either of the women from last night. It seemed she was a doctor, as she had a bunch of instruments and medical supplies on a cart. She smiled nervously at me, prepping something I couldn't see.

"Hello, Miss Harker. My name is Jemma Simmons, and this is Alphonso Mackenzie. You're in a medical facility run by the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division, or SHIELD. We are currently cleaning up your many injuries obtained when you fought our agents a few nights ago." I narrowed my eyes. _SHIELD_. Those losers who attacked me. This is the last place I want to be right now. I think over her sentence again, resting my alarm on the last bit. "Wait, a few nights ago? It was last night you idiots attacked me!" Mackenzie shook his head. "Sorry, kid, you've been out for three days now. We had to keep you sedated in order to help you heal." I looked away, appalled. "No freaking way…" I muttered, anger flying through my system. While I was preoccupied, though, Simmons pierced my skin with some needle that let out a puff of condensed air.

"Ow! What the hell are you doing?" I yelled, jerking away as much as could be expected; I was still strapped to the damn bed. "Keep your voice down." Another person joined the conversation. I looked over to see both women from last night, standing in the corner. I glared at the one who had spoken; she wasn't the one who had powers. She stared right back at me, her eyes narrowed. "Why don't you come over here and make me? I'm tied to the freaking bed; it'll be a fair fight this time." She scowled and started to walk over, anger darkening her face. The other chick- Johnson- beat her to it.

"Hey. We saved your life. The last thing you should be doing is starting fights." I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, I get it. You just feel bad because I beat you. Cuz you aren't strong enough to beat me." She lifted up a hand and the sraps went flying off. I jumped up, coming face to face with her. She clenched her jaw, glaring down at me. "You wanna bet I'm not strong enough to beat you? I destroyed this compound once. What makes you think I can't destroy you?" I smirked. "Oooh, big strong Daisy cracked the cement on the walls and brought the roof down. I can level a freaking city." She scoffed, and the room began to shake. "Why don't you prove it?" "I already did, but if you want me to destroy you again then I will." She narrowed her eyes, and I grinned. I felt the energy flow through my body again, before feeling a scorching pain fly behind my eyes. I grabbed my head and screamed, falling down to my knees. I vaguely heard the agents above me, yelling something.

I could barely think. I clenched my eyes shut, images playing across my eyelids. _The lab. The testing room. My bedroom. Daddy. The house…_ I tried to block them out, tried to get away from the red haze coating all the images. I forced myself to ignore the pain and shakily stood, holding tight to the desk next to me. I glared at Daisy, and she stared bewildered back at me. "You freaking- you used your powers on my head!" Her jaw dropped, and she closed it before letting it fall again. "I did not! How dare you accuse me of- you're ridiculous, you know that? This is ridiculous, I didn't- I'm leaving, I can't believe you actually thing I would do that." She turned angrily and stalked out of the room, along with the woman she had been standing with. "Good riddance." I muttered, before feeling a wave of dizziness and sitting down on the bed.

"Easy, Red. You can't be crashing around after blood is taken from you." Mackenzie put a steadying hand on my shoulder, calming me down. I shook my head, trying to clear the cobwebs around my memory of the previous night. "So… I've seriously been out for three days?" I asked, deciding to skip over the nickname Mackenzie had just given me. He nodded, marking some things down on a clipboard. Simmons frowned while trying to look over his shoulder; she wasn't tall enough, and settled for looking around his elbow. "What do you remember from your first encounter with SHIELD?" She asked, examining the bruise that I could feel on my face. "Um, not much. I was in the library, studying, and then an alarm went off. I left, and then that stupid chick Daisy Johnson blew me off my feet and after that, it's kind of hazy." I felt the easy lies roll off my tongue, and fought the urge to smile as Simmons bought it. "Has anything like that ever happened to you before?" I frowned inwardly, keeping a bewildered look on my face. "Yeah, once or twice. But I can never remember what happens afterwards, and I always wake up in bed a few hours later." That one was only a half- lie… I usually wake up three hours after I blow the crap out of some people, and I can barely remember what I actually do to them. Simmons frowned, but nodded. "Well, this bruise will take time to heal, and you have a concussion. You need to stay in bed with the lights dim." I nodded, and took the change of clothes she handed me. As Simmons left, I turned to Mackenzie. He was staring at me, a frown on his face. "What?" I asked, trying to conceal the urge I felt to fight or run. He stepped up next to me, and for the first time I realized how huge he actually was. "Look, I don't know what you remember or what you don't, but you know what you are doing when you are using your powers. In the videos, it's pretty obvious you're making decisions to either fight, destroy, or leave something alone. And you definitely set off the alarm in the library. Keep your answers straight, Red." With that, he headed towards the door. I turned and called out to him, "Why Red?" He smiled over his shoulder before exiting. "It reminds me of your fiery temper. And your red hair."


	5. Chapter 5

"She's lying." Simmons turned to Mack as soon as the containment door was closed. He looked down at her, a surprised look on his face. "You knew too? You hide it pretty well, Simmons." She scoffed and started walking up the ramp towards the lab. "Please. I'm friends with inhumans and secret operatives who are good at bending the truth. Whatever Harker was saying, it was either a half truth or a whole lie." Simmons looked down at the DNA samples in her hand. "I wonder what these will look like under a microscope." She wished the tubes were clear plastic instead of clouded; what would the girl's blood look like? Probably normal, although it still wasn't clear whether she was an inhuman or not. Perhaps she had powers from birth. Simmons smiled. That would be an amazing discovery.

"Earth to Simmons. Jemma. Hello?" She looked up to see Fitz standing in the doorway of the lab. "Oh. Sorry, um… Here's the samples. We should get them ready to be examined." Simmons handed him the vials and walked towards the testing chamber in the middle of the lab. Fitz placed the samples in the tray and started up the program, before turning to her. "So, Daisy said there were some fireworks down there." Simmons frowned as she pulled on a pair of gloves. "Well, let's just say Miss Harker is slightly angry at Daisy for some reason, god knows what that is." Shrugging on her lab coat, she began the procedure to sterilize the blood samples. "It was some kind of pride thing, I think. Something happened, and Harker thought Daisy had used her powers _inside_ Laylia's head." Fitz frowned, handing Simmons her safety glasses. "Is that even, um, uh, possible?" He asked.

"No, it's not." Daisy walked up behind them, sliding her phone into her pocket. "I swear I didn't do anything, although I would have done anything to keep her from getting all glowy again. Coulson and the Director want the results from the blood tests." Simmons nodded, turning back to the chamber. "Almost done, just… oh." She was cut short by the sight of bright orange blood falling out of the dropper.

"So what, she's a centipede project now? I thought we squashed that like, years ago." Daisy stalked around the lab, where the rest of the team had gathered. "I don't think she's part of centipede. She doesn't have the same characteristics as those soldiers do." Coulson frowned, looking at the case file. "What, being a homicidal psychopath that likes to destroy stuff and has a grudge against us? Sorry, A.C., but that sounds exactly like them." Daisy scoffed, crossing her arms and leaning against a lab table. May rolled her eyes. "She only has a grudge against me and you. And she's not a homicidal psychopath, although I think she does like to destroy things." Daisy's mouth dropped open, and she stared at May. "Are you _kidding_ me? She tried to kill us! Like, all of us! That doesn't count as being either a psycho or being homicidal?" Daisy said incredulously. Simmons looked at Fitz. Daisy had a point; Laylia had destroyed a lot of equipment, and had injured many of the agents. She had also attacked Daisy and May, almost killing them with a smile on her face.

"Okay, Agent Johnson, enough with the slander. After all, we don't know what exactly she is, or even if that side of her is the seventeen year old we see on paper. After all, Agent Reyes's other half isn't even controllable by him on most occasions." The Director spoke up, silencing Daisy's angry insinuations. She scowled at him, before turning on her heel and stalking out of the lab. Mack put down his tablet and followed her, muttering something about making sure she stayed away from containment. The Director sighed and put Harker's medical file on the TV. "Okay, so here's what we know. She's young, possibly inhuman, and has a power that she can barely remember using. What we don't know is where she was born, if she is definitely inhuman, and if she can control her power while in the moment. We also know that Reyes can put her down if things get out of hand. But we don't know how things get out of hand." He looked around at the team. "Find out. Find out how it's triggered, and how to stop it."

Daisy stormed out of the lab, heading to her room. They didn't understand how dangerous centipede was, how dangerous this girl was. They hadn't seen the look of sadistic joy on Harker's face, as she was getting ready to kill Daisy. That kid knew exactly what she was doing, and was taking pleasure in doing it. Daisy felt the floor start to shake, and took a deep breath. The shaking stopped immediately. She leaned up against a wall and shook her head. The team hadn't been there. They didn't feel her fear, as she looked into Laylia's bright blue eyes. She hadn't felt that fear since Ward- no, since that parasite insect bastard took over his body and had killed Lincoln. After that, she had felt like nothing would scare her again; nothing could be as terrifying as Hive. Even death didn't scare her after that. But after she came back to the Playground, she had felt safe. That feeling tricked her into having fear again. And that fear had shown itself when she faced the monster inside Laylia.

"Tremors, you good?" Daisy opened her eyes and turned to look at Mack. The familiar nickname soothed her temper, and she quickly calmed down. "Yeah, I'm fine." Mack raised his eyebrows at her, prompting the actual thoughts in her head to come flying out of her mouth. "It's just that everyone is treating her like she's a kid. She attacked me! She's a dangerous inhuman. We don't need to understand what she is, we need to keep her locked up where she can't hurt anyone else." Mack sighed and leaned against the wall, rubbing his face. "So, I feel like you're forgetting when you first discovered you were inhuman. Remember? Sif wanted to bring you back to Asguard. They wanted to find out what you were. Everyone was terrified of you. You were terrified of you. What do you think she's going through? She might not be able to control it. She might be trying to protect herself." Daisy bit her lip, suddenly feeling a twinge of guilt. Mack was right; she had no idea what Laylia was going through. As an adult, going through terrigenesis was terrifying. What would it be like for a kid?

"Daisy, Mack, where are you?" Coulson's voice came through the coms, a hint of nervousness underlying his tone. "Near the lab, what's up?" Daisy said, frowning at Mack. "There's a problem. Someone is calling in to the base, we need you to track the call." Daisy and Mack started towards the Director's office. "Any idea who it is, sir?" Mack said. "No idea, but they're calling from an old HYDRA base, so get here quickly." As they quickened their pace, the lights shut off and the emergencies came on. "Oh good, they've hacked into the mainframe." Coulson's voice was drowned out by another, more sinister one.


	6. Chapter 6

_Well, this sucks._ I thought to myself, once again stalking around the perimeter of the containment room. I had been around it at least twelve times, looking for any way out. So far, the only place had been the front door. There were no air vents, and the light fixtures were permanently bolted to the ceiling. How did they even replace broken bulbs?

I couldn't break out unless I either used the door or powered up. And neither of those were options. I would just have to wait for someone to take me to a different room in this stupid base to make my escape. It needed to come soon; how much more of this quarantine, I wasn't sure I could take. My body wanted to turn, to bust out of this place and destroy something. But I knew I couldn't do that. If I did, they would chase me forever. Just like those freaking crazies from the house.

As I was thinking about how to get out, the lights went off and red ones went on in my room and in the hallway. "Great, what is this? Decontamination? So I can finally leave?" I grinned, happy to get out finally.

" _SHIELD, listen closely. You have something of ours and we want it back._ " I felt the grin slide off my face as the familiar, terrifying voice crackled through every speaker in the room. " _We are prepared to take it by force, if you do not give it up in seventy- two hours. Don't bother pretending you don't have it; we watched you take it from the field. We have your base under surveillance. If you make a move to hide it, we will attack. If you try to mobilize against us, we will attack. If you do anything except move it to the drop location, we will attack._ " The TV crackled to life, a photo coming through on the screen, grainy black and white depicting the subject. " _In case there is any confusion, we want this. Laylia Harker._ " I gripped the desk, keeping myself upright while dizzily looking at the picture. " _If she escapes, we will find her on our own. Remember, seventy- two hours. We will send more information._ " The red lights flickered off, and the regular lights came back on. I slowly slid to the floor, nausea and horror filling my entire body. Shaking, I stared at where the picture had been. How? How had they found me? I had disappeared after every fight I had with them. It had been two months since I had last saw them, but I had given them the slip. How could they have found me?

I heard the door slide open, and loud footsteps come into the room. I looked up at Mackenzie, Simmons, and Johnson, who were looking down at me. Behind them, the chick from earlier and two other guys were conversing in whispers. I swallowed and shakily stood, keeping a hand on the wall for support. I cast a glance at Johnson. For once, she didn't look mad, but looked in between scared and concerned.

"Who was that?" The woman asked, looking at me. "And don't say you don't know them, because they sure seemed to know you." I looked at the floor, trying to think of a way where I didn't have to tell them anything. I grit my teeth together. This wasn't going to end well for anyone. I had no doubts that their base had been compromised, and that it was under surveillance as well.

A hand reached out to grab mine. I looked up at Simmons, her face telling me that she knew what I was, or at least knew my stories were lies. The look she had told me that it was time to come clean, about everything. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, trying to shake off the terror I still felt. "You want to know the truth about me? Everything? Because I will tell you. It's not fair for you to not know what you're dealing with. For you to not know who you're dealing with.

"I was born in a lab. My mother wasn't from Earth; I don't know where she was from. I don't know my father. After I was born, my mother died as a result of bioweapons testing. The scientists at the lab were trying to make a weapon powerful enough to take out an alien army. After several years of testing on my mother, she finally was finished. I was two.

When she died, the scientists were furious. They had lost the perfect test subject, one that could regenerate as long as they weren't killed. I was being taken care of in a different part of the lab. I didn't know that the games I played were actually tests to see if I had a power like my mother. One of the scientists saw something in the tests, and he tried to provoke a reaction from me. When he did, they dropped all research from my mother's tests and began testing on me. Every day, for hours, I would go through pain and suffering. I still have some of the scars from it. And every minute I endured under their tests, I built up anger and hatred.

By the time I was four, I was a mess. Every person that came near me, I wanted to kill them. I wanted to make them hurt the way they had hurt me. But there was a group of men tasked to keep me in check, called Chaos. Any time I stepped out of line, they were there to reprimand me. The pain that I felt during the tests was nothing compared to what they did to me. I feared them more than anything in the world. And their leader was the worst. He dreamed up new ways to punish me, and had the scientists invent something called the Fear Helmet. It keeps you in the scariest situation you could ever think of, for as long as the timer is set. He would keep me in it for hours.

Until, a new person showed up. He was kind to me. He would bring me food, he would stop Chaos from hurting me. He wanted to help me in every way he could. I thought of him as a father, and he acted like one. One day, he heard that Chaos were going to use the Fear Helmet again. He took me out of the lab that day.

I used my powers to get us out safely. We ran for months, finally settling in a rural town. But somehow, they found us. They killed him so I wouldn't resist going back. But I couldn't take it. All the pain and anger I felt spilled over, and I killed every single one of those Chaos bastards. Or so I thought.

A few years later, I was attacked by them. They were new faces, all except one guy. His last name was Keller. I thought I had killed him, but it turns out that someone had been wearing his face. I knew I had to stay away from them, so I continued to move around. Every time I settled, though, they would find me and try to take me back. That's why there have been blue flashes of light everywhere, and people turning up dead. I end up killing at least three of them every time. The man on the intercom was Keller. And make no mistake, however well you think this base is protected, or how prepared you think you are, he will waltz in here and destroy every single person until he has found me. I wasn't the only person experimented on in the lab. Just remember that." I finished the story, finally calmed down enough to tell it, minus a few parts. The six agents stared at me, all of them in shock.

"So, what do we do, Director?" Johnson turned to look at one of the men, who frowned and scratched his head. "I think it's time we get in the field and take down these bastards." He looked at me. "I'm still not entirely sure I trust you. I want Mr. Reyes in on this op, just in case you lose control." I swallowed, nodding my head even though I had no idea who 'Mr. Reyes' was. "Let's get to work, team. Coulson, you take point."


End file.
